Enlarge image
Alleged cluster bombs in a village near Kharkiv
Photo: MARIA SENOVILLA / EPA
This article will be continuously updated.
In Japan, the EU warns of "threatening" cooperation between Russia and China
6.43 a.m .:
At a summit in Japan, EU leaders warned of the negative effects of cooperation between Russia and China on the world community.
Russia "is today, with its barbaric war against Ukraine and its worrying pact with China, the most direct threat to the world order," said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Kishida emphasized: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not just a European matter, but shakes the core of the international order, including Asia." This should "not be tolerated".
Contrary to earlier reticence in other conflicts, Japan had joined the West's heavy sanctions against Moscow from the start.
Cooperation on the Ukraine crisis is "of crucial importance for Europe, but also for the Indo-Pacific region," stressed EU Council President Charles Michel.
He announced that the EU and Japan also intend to "deepen their consultations on a more confident China."
Ukrainian military commander in besieged Mariupol calls Elon Musk for help
5:37 a.m.:
A Ukrainian military commander in the besieged port city of Mariupol has made a desperate appeal to the world's richest man, Elon Musk.
The commander of the 36th naval brigade, Serhiy Volyna, wrote on Twitter to the new owner of the short message service: "Help us get from Azov steel to a mediator country.
If not you, then who?”
Volyna, whose unit has been holding out for weeks at Azov Stahl's industrial plants besieged by Russian troops, said he set up a Twitter account specifically to reach Musk.
"They say you come from another planet to teach people to believe in the impossible," he wrote to Musk.
"Our planets are side by side as I live where it is almost impossible to survive." He called on "every person on planet earth" to help Musk heed his appeal.
EU draft: 195 billion for energy independence
5.23 a.m .:
According to analyzes by the EU Commission, the European Union must invest an additional 195 billion euros over the next five years in order to get rid of Russian energy.
In the middle of next week, the Brussels authority is expected to present its plan to supply the EU with long-term energy without fossil fuels from Russia.
To this end, the Commission wants to set more ambitious targets for the expansion of renewable energies and energy saving.
This emerges from a draft that is available to the German Press Agency.
The text is subject to change.
The aim of the strategy is therefore to rapidly reduce dependence on fossil fuels from Russia by driving the energy transition.
By 2030, 45 percent of the energy in the EU should come from renewable sources, instead of the previously planned 40 percent.
That would increase clean energy capacity to 1,236 gigawatts, compared to 511 gigawatts today - more than what was initially foreseen in the EU climate package.
According to the draft, the number of solar power systems should more than double by 2028, to 300 gigawatts.
The Commission also relies on climate-friendly hydrogen, which is produced from green electricity, for example.
By 2030, ten million tons of it will be produced in the EU and another ten million tons will be imported.
At the same time, it is proposed to reduce energy consumption by at least 13 percent by the end of the decade, instead of the 9 percent previously planned.
The implementation of the goals is largely up to the countries, which could use money from the Corona development fund for reforms.
Overall, the strategy could save the EU around 80 billion euros a year in Russian gas imports, 12 billion in oil imports and 1.7 billion in coal imports, according to the draft.
Human Rights Watch: Russia and Ukraine use cluster munitions
5.19 a.m .:
According to a report by the organization Human Rights Watch, the Russian armed forces have used internationally banned cluster munitions in Ukraine.
As a result, hundreds of civilians died and schools, residential buildings and hospitals were damaged, the human rights organization in Geneva reported.
The Ukrainian army also used such ammunition at least once.
There is an international treaty that has banned the use, stockpiling, trade and production of cluster munitions since 2010.
Strictly speaking, however, only the 110 contracting states are bound by it.
Russia and Ukraine are not among them.
Nonetheless, the widespread condemnation of so many countries has made the use of these weapons internationally outlawed.
Human Rights Watch has documented Russian use of such munitions in several cities, including Kharkiv and Mykolayiv, the organization said.
According to local media reports, nine people who were queuing in front of an ATM were killed by cluster munitions in Mykolaiv on March 13.
How many missions there were in total is difficult to say, but the organization assumes hundreds.
Ukraine reportedly used such munitions in a village near Kharkiv that was under Russian control.
According to Ukrainian information, by May 9 almost 100,000 landmines and pieces of cluster munitions had been recovered and rendered harmless.
Battles between Kherson and Mykolayiv
5.16 a.m .:
Russian and Ukrainian troops fought again in the region between Cherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.
The defenders gave the Russian attackers "no opportunity to advance," according to the Ukrainian military leadership.
In the course of the fighting, at least 23 Russian soldiers were killed and two tanks were destroyed, as was an ammunition depot, the Unian agency quoted from the statement.
The information could not be independently verified.
Klitschko fears further Russian attacks on Kyiv
4.04 a.m .:
Despite the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev area, Mayor Vitali Klitschko fears a new attack on the Ukrainian capital “at any time”.
In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN, Klitschko did not even rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Kyiv remains the main target of the Russian military.
"And as long as there is war in Ukraine, we cannot give any Ukrainians any guarantees," said the former world boxing champion.
"Right now, safety is our top priority," he said.
Although the country is being defended by “our warriors”, the risk remains.
»And we cannot survive without our partners, without the USA and the European states.«
Ukraine announces first trial of Russian soldiers for war crimes
3:14 a.m .:
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has announced the first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier.
A 21-year-old Russian man has been charged with killing a civilian who witnessed the theft from the window of a stolen car, a statement said.
Together with four comrades, the soldier wanted to flee in the car after an attack on his convoy in northern Ukraine.
The 62-year-old civilian was cycling near his home in the village of Chupakhivka.
According to Ukrainian sources, he had no weapon.
According to prosecutors, the suspect fired on the orders of another Russian army officer.
The Russian soldier, who is in Ukrainian captivity, faces a life sentence for war crimes and murder.
Prosecutors released a blurred photo of the suspect.
She did not provide any information about the circumstances of the capture or the fate of the other four Russian soldiers.
Zelenskyj sees progress in international guarantees
0.16 a.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees significant progress in efforts to achieve international security guarantees for his country.
"We are negotiating with the world's leading nations to give Ukraine confidence in security for decades to come," Zelenskyi said in a video address.
Among other things, this topic was discussed at the G7 meeting on May 8, in which Ukraine took part for the first time.
"This is now the first time in the history of our state that such guarantees can be recorded," said Zelenskyy.
And not in any memoranda or unclear formulations, "but concrete guarantees".
These are thus “not only legally valid, but also formulated in such a way that it is clear: what exactly, who specifically and how specifically (Ukraine) is guaranteed”.
dpa/Reuters/AFP
